New training opportunities
aimed at creating jobs in Morocco

With its fast-growing industrialization, Morocco is in urgent need of skills

Over the last decade, Morocco’s automotive industry has seen sustained growth, and the country now ranks among the largest exporters of cars to Europe. According to figures from the country’s Foreign Exchange Office, in 2021 Moroccan exports were 18 per cent up on the previous year, with more than 358,000 vehicles exported.

Morocco’s National Pact for Industrial Emergence 2009–2015 and its Industrial Acceleration Plan 2014–2020 contributed to the development of the country’s automotive industry, laying the foundations for strategies aimed at attracting investment, promoting employment and developing skills in the sector.

Under the National Pact for Industrial Emergence, the training offer for the automotive trades has been expanded, with the opening of the Automotive Industry Training Institute (IFMIA) centres in the cities of Casablanca, Kenitra and Tangier between 2011 and 2017. This network of government-run centres has been set up with the aim of training specialists in the automotive trades increasingly needed by the Moroccan industry. The IFMIAs involve professionals from the sector in their training activities, but if they are to continue supporting the automotive sector, they must ensure the theoretical and practical training they provide meets manufacturers’ needs. 

Strengthening the training offered by IFMIA Kenitra

As part of the project 'Driving up young people’s skills for work in the automotive sector', Invest for Jobs is working with IFMIA Kenitra to enhance its training offer. Kenitra’s industrial zone, located 53 kilometres north of the country’s capital, Rabat, is home to automotive suppliers hungry for qualified workers. The project’s goal is therefore to increase the qualifications of young people and, in doing so, meet this growing demand.

Every year, more than 4,500 people sign up for IFMIA Kenitra’s basic training courses (designed for baccalaureate graduates) and continuing education courses, which cover a variety of fields including engine assembly, quality control, automation and sheet metal working.

With the support of Invest for Jobs, the institute has been able to create three new training programs of varying lengths in areas identified as promising for the industry: plastic injection moulding (an advanced technique for moulding plastic parts), material handling, and automation and drive system technology. The first program is part of the initial training provided by the institute for post-baccalaureate students and spans over two years. The second aims to provide qualifying training to apprentices for a duration of two to four weeks, enabling them to be employed in automotive companies. The third program focuses on ongoing employee training in partnership with companies.

To enable trainees to put the theory into practice, IFMIA Kenitra has also been equipped with two plastic injection moulding machines, two training benches for automation and drive system technology and a forklift for the material handling courses.

Creating jobs and improving skills

Since the project began in June 2022, 134 apprentices trained as part of the second curriculum (two to four weeks) have been integrated into automotive companies. As for the other courses, 128 students have enrolled for initial training and 370 employees have benefitted from continuing training.

IFMIA is supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH under the Special Initiative "Decent Work for a Just Transition" of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).